As many of you have heard, February is our Member Appreciation Month! This is a time the Museum staff dedicates to honoring the people who have supported us the most – our members.

Every February, we enjoy amazing presentations and weekends full of free activities for Museum members. For 2011, we have added a behind the scenes tour of our restoration hangar with Museum curator Stewart Bailey, and a member-only Star Party in our IMAX Theater. In addition to all the wonderful people involved throughout the month, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Rob Holman from Oregon State University. Dr. Holman is the founder of the Coastal Imaging Lab at OSU and has spent his life studying the inactions of ocean waves and beaches. He will be speaking at the Shifting Sands event on Feb. 12, and will be followed by an exclusive showing of the new (to us) IMAX movie, Ultimate Wave Tahiti!

Member Appreciation Month kicks off this weekend with a Kids Day on Saturday from 10:15am to approximately 1pm. The event will feature a planetarium, book reading, and Steve the “Balloon Guy.” We will also provide a special kids menu at our Cosmo Cafe in the Space Museum.

As you might have heard, the Museum has an amazing new project that is becoming close to completion.

This project is the Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark, a nonprofit educational Waterpark that will include four waterslides, a wave pool and a children’s museum dedicated to teaching students about the power of water. The space features nearly 70,000 square feet of educational fun, highlighted by a massive B747-100 aircraft that rests on the top of the building. Throughout the structure, Waterpark visitors will learn about the power of water and its effects on society through dozens of interactive exhibits and learning tools.

This Waterpark is unique for a few different reasons. One, it is the only aviation-themed waterpark that we know of. Two, it is the only building that has a 747 on the roof (to be technically accurate, there is a 747 that is elevated off the ground in Germany, but it is not on a roof). Third, this Waterpark places a massive emphasis on the Museum’s mission, which is to inspire and educate. So not only will the Waterpark visitors have a blast, but they will learn something as well.

The Museum staff is still finalizing details regarding the Waterpark opening, but I wanted to provide a little more information on that big building next to the Museum with an aircraft on top. For more photos of the construction progress, check out our facebook page and our twitter feed.

Watch how we lifted the 747 on top of the roof (thanks to one of our favorite Museum visitors, Even Q):

When the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum’s newest aircraft, a McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) F-15A Eagle was dedicated late last year, it joined a growing collection of aircraft types that share the distinct honor of having served with the Oregon Air National Guard. Along with the P-51D, F-102A, T-33A and F-4C, the F-15A helps trace the history of the 123rd Fighter Squadron, which is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding this year.

The idea of a state-controlled National Guard is a uniquely American concept, with roots stretching back to the first shots of the Revolutionary War. Ever since, state run militias have provided citizen-soldiers for every one of America’s conflicts, and it was only natural that when aviation became a part of the military, that the guardsmen would serve there too. In Oregon, the effort to create an aviation unit began in April, 1939, when President Roosevelt proposed an expansion for the Army Air Corps that included ten new observation squadrons for the National Guard. 2nd Lt. Robert Dodson, who had been flying as a reservist at Pearson Field, requested the creation of a new unit, telling the Air Corps “We’ve got people, we’ve got a place, and we’re ready!” Promoted to Major, Dodson enlisted 117 men at the Swan Island Airport and they were officially designated the 123rd Observation Squadron on April 18, 1941. They received federal funding and erected a hangar to begin operations with O-47 observation aircraft and BC-1 training aircraft.

Within five months, the 123rd was called to active duty and moved to Gray Field, at Fort Lewis, Washington to perform anti-submarine patrols along the Pacific Northwest coast. Then in April, 1944, they received news that they were going overseas. Equipped with F-5s, the photo recon version of the P-38 Lightning, and re-designated the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, the unit headed into combat for a year and a half in the China-Burma-India Theater.

After peace returned to the world, the 123rd was re-instated under the control of the Oregon National Guard at the Portland International Airport. Now designated a fighter squadron, the 123rd was equipped with P-51D Mustangs, and became part of the Air National Guard when the Air Force became a separate service in 1947. Over the next sixty years, the 123rd would change aircraft many times, from the P-51 Mustang to the F-86 Sabre, the F-94 Starfire, the F-89 Scorpion, the F-102 Delta Dagger, the F-101 Voodoo, and the F-4 Phantom. In 1990 they transitioned to the F-15 Eagle, which they still fly today.

The F-15 on display, serial # 73-0089 had a very lengthy career with both the Air Force and Air National Guard (ANG). It was the 6th production F-15 built at the McDonnell-Douglas plant in St. Louis, and was the 23rd F-15 to enter service with the US Air Force. (A total of 17 prototype and pre-production aircraft are included in that number.) It spent the first decade of its life stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, serving with the 555th TFTS and 405th TFS in the training role, before being handed over to the 122nd TFS of the Louisiana Air National Guard. Six years later, it went back to the active Air Force and served in Iraq with the 9th TFS for combat operations during 1991. It then came back home to serve with the Georgia Air National Guard, before traveled back to New Orleans with the 122nd and finally on to the Oregon ANG in 1994 for the last 15 years of its life.

At the time of its retirement in 2009, #0089 was the oldest, longest serving F-15 in the United States Air Force inventory. It was turned over to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, for preservation at Evergreen, and made ready for display by volunteers from the 123rd FS under the leadership of Chief Master Sergeant John Rasmussen. She certainly had a great run, and it is wonderful to see her preserved in the museum where she proudly reflects on the history of Oregon’s own; the 123rd Fighter Squadron.

If you’re not a Museum member, then it is the perfect time to join. Each new and renewing member will receive free IMAX movie passes, as well as the added benefits of a Museum membership, which includes gift store discounts, free admission to more than 350 museums through the ASTC program, invitations to members-only events (aka Member Appreciation Month!), and free admission to the Museum!

Our schedule for the month is packed with activities for both kids and adults. We will start the month with a Kids Only day in the Evergreen Space Museum on Saturday, Feb. 5, and continue through the month with activities like a Star Party and a Behind The Scenes tour. The Paper Airplane Guy is returning on Feb. 26, and we are offering a members-only breakfast before his exclusive presentation. That same night, the Museum will host a free adults-only wine tasting featuring Evergreen Vineyards wines and a free showing of Legends of Flight 3D.

We will have a members-only drawing every day for those of you visiting the Museum during the month. Museum Guidebooks, Spruce Goose coffee mugs and IMAX passes are just a few of the prizes. Each member can enter to win with each visit to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, culminating in a grand prize drawing for a hot air balloon ride!

Cindy Borja is a 2nd grader at Wascher Elementary School in Lafayette, Ore. She submitted the following entry to the Museum’s ISS Downlink contest in order to win a seat at the question and answer session with astronauts on Jan. 19.

I would like to go to space to see different planets. I would really like to see Jupiter’s great red spot. I would also love to see half of the solar system. Because some planets are cold and some are hot. If I were to go to space, rockets point would be red. The bottom would be blue, like some toy rockets. I would like to visit the International Space Station to visit Astronots, and ask about what they know about some stars and planets so I can learn some more about stars and planets. And I say if I went to space I would like to see the flaming red hot sun. I would fly to space in my rocket. First I check if the battery and engin of the rocket is full. If it is I’ll fly to space. If it isin’t, I’ll fix it then then go to space. I would ask the astronot. What do you eat in the space station? Where and how do you sleep inside the space station?

Hannah Siepmann is a 6th grader at Duniway MS in McMinnville, Ore. She submitted the following entry to the Museum’s ISS Downlink contest in order to win a seat at the question and answer session with astronauts on Jan. 19.

There are many dangers that astronauts face while living in a microgravity environment, such as the International Space Station (ISS). When living in close to zero-gravity, you could face mental disorientation, osteoporosis, radiation, and “Puffy-Head Bird-Leg” syndrome.

Mental disorientation in astronauts is also called Space Motion Sickness and is somewhat like seasickness. Astronauts can feel ill or disoriented because of the motion of the spaceship. When mental disorientation occurs, astronauts can take drugs or undergo Autogenic Feedback training. Autogenic Feedback training was developed by NASA to improve an astronauts’ condition in space. It includes a six-hour training program an on-the-go system that keeps track of your body functions and tells you. NASA Estimates that half of all astronauts experience mental disorientation when in space, and when it occurs it takes approximately three days to recover.

Osteoporosis is a disease where the bones decrease in mass due to lack of use. In a microgravity environment, the bones are not regularly used for bearing weight and exercise, causing the bone cells to break down. On Earth, people exercise their muscles to their muscles strengthen and stay in shape. Their bones are regularly exercised by walking. When astronauts do not walk because of the micro gravity, their bones do not get exercised. Osteoporosis occurs rapidly, and the decrease in mass causes the bones to become brittle.

Radiation is also a danger in an environment like the ISS. The amount of radiation astronauts are exposed to depends on the distance from the earth, solar cycle, orbital inclination, and individual susceptibility. Radiation can mutate DNA cells, leading to various types of cancer. The radiation in space differs from that on Earth in that particles move at such a high speed that its impact causes ionization. This is called ionizing radiation, and it can cause many types of damage to human cells.

Another risk is called “Puffy-Head Bird-Leg Syndrome.” The human body is accustomed to pumping blood upward to make sure that blood does not only flow in the legs due to gravity. When there is only microgravity, all the blood in the body is pumped upwards, leaving insufficient blood in the legs and feet and excess blood in the head and neck. The end result is, as the name says, an astronaut with a swollen head and skinny legs! Astronauts will almost always recover from this syndrome when they return to Earth.

Astronauts realize the dangers they face when entering a microgravity environment, but many of them risk their health and lives to increase scientific knowledge about space.